Electric-railway plow.



PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

J. H. AKBRS.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8. 1903.

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NO MODEL.

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PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

J. H. AKERS.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY PLOW.

APPLICATION 3mm) AUG. s, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2..

N0 MODEL.

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n0. esaesa lUNrTnn STATES Patented March 15; 1904.

PATENT Orrrcn.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,832, dated March15, 1904:.

Application filed August 8,1903.

To (all w/wm, it natty concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. AKERS, a citizcn of the United States,residing at Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Electric-Railway Plows, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of an electricrailway plow designed withreference to securing the following desirable results-viz. a plow whichcan be inserted into or withdrawn from the slot of the undergroundconduit at any point along the slot, so that it may be examined andrepaired at any point without having to wait until the car is run over apit; also, one which provides for the movement of the car forward orbackward and which will also be adapted to pass over breaks in theconductor-rails at crossings without damage to the plow and in which theplow may be conveniently and safely lifted into or taken out of the slotand at the same time preserving its freedom of movement for turningcurves.

My invention comprises certain novel constructions and arrangements ofparts for securing the above-named results, which I will now proceed'todescribe with reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sideview of the plow in the conduit, the view being taken at right angles tothe line of travel of the car. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectiontaken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on line 3 3of Fig. 1, on a somewhat larger scale, showing the relation of theplow-shoes to the conductor-rails. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view online a 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the plow. Fig. 6 is adetail in side view of the swinging frame carrying one of the plowshoes,and Fig. 7 is a detail in perspective of one of the retaining-bars forholding the plow in the car-hangers.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, O is the underground conduit in whichare contained the horizontal and parallel conductor-rails R R, spacedapart and insulated, as usual, and oppositely charged with the electriccurrent. Between these rails the plow travels and carries the current toand from the motor on the car. The top of the conduit is closed with theSerial No. 168,786. (No model.)

exception of a narrow slot by the parallel slot-rails 0 0 Through thisslot the plow travels, and the entire plow may be passed through it ortaken from it at any point along the length of the track.

B is the plow, which has a broad but thin shank portion in the middlecarrying the rub plates for the slot and below these plates has arectangular frame B carrying the plowshoes and accessories, while at theupper end a cross-head B, of Wood, supports the plow in hangers from thecar. This cross-head has the metal connections of the side bars of theplow covered by insulation, as shown at B to avoid accidents, and thecross-head forms a handle for lifting the plow from or putting it. intothe conduit, while the outwardly-projecting ends of the cross-head formthe plow-supports.

The cross-head B is arranged lengthwise the car and must have a freelateral movement for turning curves. To accommodate this, the ends ofthe crosshead, which are covered with metal to take the wear, are heldin transverse ways or channels in the lower end of the hanger-plates A AThese hangerplates are securely bolted to cross-timbers A A beneath thecar A and at their bottom edges have inwardly-facing ribs or flanges A Aupon which rest the ends of the crosshead. i

To hold the cross-head down, there is on the inner face of eachhanger-plate a detachable retaining-bar A provided with a handle (0*.The ends of these retaining-bars are tenoned or reduced and are receivedbetween inwardlyprojecting lugs A A on the hanger-plates and are lockedtherein by pins a passing through the lugs and the tenoned ends of theretaining-bar. It will thus be seen that the ends of the cross-head ofthe plow have free lateral play in the channels between the ribs A andthe detachable retaining-bars A above, and yet by means of thedetachable character of the retaining-bars and the handles a and pins athe retaining-bars may be conveniently removed and the entire plowlifted out by the cross-head.

The two hanger-plates A A are supported entirely from above and hangfree at their lower ends. To brace or stiffen them against lateraldeflection and the possible dropping out of the cross-head and plow,thetwo hangerplates are locked together on each side by tiebars A, which(see Fig. 1) have notched ends that drop down over hooks A A fixed tothe edge of the hangeuplates. This-forms a secure connection and braceand is far superior to bolts and nuts, as the latter are liable from thejolting of the car to work off and drop the plow, while my hooked ornotched tie-bar always gravitates of its own weight to the lockedposition.

I will now describe the plow-shoes and their accessories.

In the side pieces of the rectangular frame B (see Fig. 1) there arefixed two horizontal parallel leather straps I) 6. Instead of leatherany material which is a non-conduetor of electricity may be used. Onthese two straps are suspended the shoe-frames .7) b, the straps beingrun through holes in the frames and the latter riveted to the straps, sothat the shoe frames cannot come in contact with each other and aresuspended in insulated relation. These two shoe-frames are connected,respectively, to the lead-wires a. and a, which lead the current to themotor on the car above, said leadwires extending up between therub-plates of the shank of the plow. The shoe-frames are each made withan upright portion having two horizontal arms projecting outwardly,through which latter the supporting and insulating straps pass. In eachshoe-frame between its pair of arms is hinged a shoe 2*, constructed asa metal plate adapted to bear on one of the conductor-rails R. Theseshoeplates are spring-seated in two ways-that is to say, they are madeto work against a spring in turning on their vertical pivots and theyare made to slide in the direction of their own planes inwardly againstsprings, as seen in Figs. 3 and 6. Avertical stem 0, Fig. 6, has twohorizontal arms 0 0, slotted longitudinally at 0 This stem and arms forma hingeframe. On these arms there slides the shoeplate 6 a pin 6extending through the shoeplates at top and bottom and passing throughthe slots 0 of arms 0. Spiral springs a are wound around the arms 0behind the shoeplates, so that the shoe-plates may slide in their ownplanes in straight lines up along the arms 0, compressing the springs 0Another spiral spring 0* is wound around the stem 0 of the hinge-frameand bears in the middle against lug c on the shoe-frame and at the endsfinds a bearing against the shoeframe Z2. The tension of this springtends to swing the shoe and its hinged carrier-frame 0 0' about thevertical pivots of the stem 0, which are seatedin sockets between thearms of the shoe-frames b. The tension of spring 0* serves to keep theshoes against the conductor-rails in trailing position, as seen in Fig.3. Now if the car he going in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, andit is desired to back the car, it will be seen that the shoes wouldgouge into the rails R R, except for the rectilinear yielding of theshoe-plates inwardly in the direction of their length. When, however,constructed as described and the car is to be backed in the oppositedirection to the arrow shown in Fig. 3, the shoeplates 6 7/ slidelongitudinally up on the arms 0 0, thereby becoming shortened, as seenat the dotted lines 5 Z, and finally move back far enough to trail inthe opposite direction, as seen at the dotted position at Z Z For thispurpose the springs c are 'so adjusted as to press the shoes outwardlyagainst the rails when trailing in either direction.

I will now describe how the plow and its shoes can be brought withinsuch narrow limits as to be easily passed through the slot between theslot-rails.

The plow-frame, shoe-frames d, and shoes L are all made thinner than theslot between the slot-rails. Through the two shoe-plates b 5 there isformed a vertical hole, passing through an inner horizontally projectingtongue U of the shoe. Through these holes there pass leather straps 6"7), which (see Fig. 5) are fastened at the lower end to the frame of theplow and at the upper ends extend through the hollow shank of the plowto easy reach from the bottom of the car. N ow the normal tendency ofthe shoes when in the conduit is to trend outwardly against theconductor-rails, as seen in Figs. 3 and 5, which hows the leather straps6 I), as in Fig. 5. If, however, a strong tension is put upon theleather straps 5 b", they are straightened vertically, so that theshoe-plates are drawn into the spaces between the arms of the shoe-frameb, so that they lie in the same plane withthe shoe-frames andplow-frame, as seen in dotted lines at Z Z, Fig. 3, and when in thisposition the whole plow and all of its accessories are brought into thelimits of the narrow slot of the conduit, and the plow may be liftedout. In the place of the leather straps 6" b" any flexiblenon-conducting cords or lines maybe usec.

I am aware that it is not broadly new to provide a plow withspring-pressed shoes held against the conductor-rails in a yieldingmanner and that such shoes have been arranged to pass through the slot,and I do not claim this broadly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electric-railway plow having verticall y-h inged frames withhorizontally-projecting arms, shoes mounted on said arms to slidethereon and springs to force the shoes out and allow them to yieldinwardly substantially as described.

2. An electric-railway plow having springhinged frames and springpressed shoes mounted to slide on the frames substantially as described.

3. An electric-railway plow comprising resilient shoes hinged aboutvertical axes, shoeframes carrying the shoes, insulated supports for theshoe-frames consisting of horizontal supporting-straps extending fromside to side of the plow-frame substantially as described.

4. An electric-railway plow comprising resilient shoes hinged aboutvertical axes, shoeframes having channeled horizontal arms, and nonconducting supporting straps passing through said arms and secured tothe sides of the plow substantially as described. 1 5. Anelectric-railway plow comprising a main frame having flexiblenon-conducting supporting-straps, shoe-frames hung upon the said strapsand yielding shoes pivoted in said frames substantially as described.

6. An electric-railway plow comprising a main frame, resilient shoeshinged within the same about vertical axes and flexible non-conductingoperating-lines attached at their lower ends to the plow-frame,extending through the shoes at a point outside the axial center and thenextended up through the hollow shank of the plow substantially as andfor the purpose described.

7 An electric-railway plow comprising a main frame with resilient shoesmade of less thickness thanthe slot, and flexible operatinglines forthrowing the shoes into the plane of the plow-frame substantially asdescribed.

8. An electric-railway plow having a crosshead at its upper end,combined with hangers attached to the car and bearing supporting ribs orflanges at their lower edges, detachable re taining-bars and means forlocking them above the ends of the cross-head substantially asdescribed.

9. An electric railway plow having outwardly-projecting supports at itsupper end combined with hangers having inwardly-facing transversechannels carrying the plow-supports, and detachable retaining-bars toprevent the plow from rising substantially as described.

10. An electric-railway plow having outwardly-projecting supports at itsupper end combined with hanger-plates having transverseinwardly-projecting ribs or flanges along their lower edges forsustainingthe ends of the plow-supports with a free lateral movement,detachable transverse retaining-bars arranged above the plow-supports,and seats and locking devices for holding the retaining-barssubstantially as shown and described.

11. An electric-railway plow having outwardly-projecting supports at itsupper end combined with two hanger-plates having transverse channels forthe plow-supports to work in and two hook-seats on each hanger-plate,and two parallel tie-bars having notched or hooked ends fitting in saidseats and holding the hanger-plates against spreading apartsubstantially as described.

JOHN Hf AKERS.

Witnesses:

SOLON C. KEMoN, T. O. MOCORKLE.

